San Miguel de Socorro

Hubby is great at finding side trips that he knows Kiddo and I would enjoy. On our return home, we spent one night in Socorro, New Mexico. It’s a tiny little community of less than 10,000 people in the Rio Grande Valley. Yet this tiny place is filled with interesting history.

Lincoln Laboratory and the White Sands Missile Range are nearby. As was Fort Craig, the largest fort in the Southwest, with over 2,000 soldiers. When we think of Civil War battles, we don’t think much about the Southwest. And yet on February 21, 1862 the Union Troops at Fort Craig and the Confederate Army of New Mexico faced off on a battlefield just north of the fort. At the end of the day, the Confederates held the field of battle, while the Union held the fort. Both sides claimed victory.

Socorro itself was founded in 1598. The Catholic Church, San Miguel de Socorro claims to have been founded at the same time, making it the oldest Catholic Church in America. The Church we see today was actually built on the site of an old mission. The mission wasn’t built until sometime around 1627. It was later destroyed in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolt. A portion of the adobe wall of the mission remains today, visible through glass just to the left of the Alter.

While there are no records of when the existing adobe structure was finally completed, the first baptisms, burials and marriages in the parish records begin in 1821. San Miguel de Socorro was so named to honor the Archangel, Saint Michael. Local legend holds that the village of Socorro had been known to fall under Apache raids. During one such raid the villagers hid near the ruins of the mission. Then an angel appeared and scared off the invaders, who are said to have never returned again. The people believed they had been protected by Saint Michael himself.

While there is no proof of such a miracle, and it has not been investigated by church authorities, there is no proof that it didn’t happen either. Angels do walk among us, although typically they go unseen. All I can tell you is that standing on Hallowed Grounds has a profound effect on the soul.